Guardians of the Galaxy & X-Men: The Black Vortex is the latest crossover between Guardians of the Galaxy, the X-Men and other of Marvel’s cosmic characters. Told in 13 parts, this galaxy-sized story will see Star-Lord and a large cast of heroes attempt to save the universe from the terrible power that is the Black Vortex.
What is the Black Vortex? It’s an ancient artifact of immense power which allows those who use it to unlock their true potential through cosmic power. In the wrong hands, this could see the end of the universe and billions of lives. No wonder villains Mr Knife and Thane, the son of Thanos, want it so bad.
Even though the events of this crossover have billions of lives at stake, it’s also a personal one for each character involved. In an interview with Marvel.com head writer Sam Humphries stated: “…we’re grounding the story in the deeply personal conflict each character will go through just by encountering the Black Vortex.” This sounds rather promising as sometimes stories of this size lack character moments.
As crossovers can be confusing, especially when they involve many different titles, I have created the Guardians of the Galaxy & X-Men: The Black Vortex Reading Order Checklist. The is handy reading order shows which issues need to be read in what order, lists lead-up titles if you want to gain more insight into the background of the story and all of the release dates.
Lead Up Issues
The issues below contain the Black Vortex artifact in either flashback, mentioned or featured in person. They are good if you want a bit more context, but I say wouldn’t be compulsory reading as Guardians of the Galaxy & X-Men: The Black Vortex Alpha #1 is the official kick-off of the crossover and will get readers up to speed if you miss anything leading up.
Legendary Star-Lord #4 – October 1st
Written by Sam Humphries. Art by Paco Medina.
Legendary Star-Lord #5 – November 5th
Written by Sam Humphries. Art by Paco Medina.
Legendary Star-Lord #6 – December 3rd
Written by Sam Humphries. Art by Paco Medina.
Legendary Star-Lord #7 – January 7th
Written by Sam Humphries. Art by Paco Medina.
Legendary Star-Lord #8 – January 21st
Written by Sam Humphries. Art by Paco Medina.
February 2015
Guardians of the Galaxy & X-Men: The Black Vortex Alpha #1 (Part 1)
Written by Sam Humphries. Art by Ed McGuiness.
Guardians of the Galaxy #24 (Part 2)
Written by Brian Michael Bendis. Art by Valerio Schiti.
Legendary Star-Lord #9 (Part 3)
Written by Sam Humphries. Art by Paco Medina.
All-New X-Men #38 (Part 4)
Written by Brian Michael Bendis. Art by Mahmud Asrar.
March 2015
All-New X-Men #39 (Part 5)
Written by Brian Michael Bendis. Art by Mahmud Asrar.
Guardians Team-Up #3 (Part 6)
Written by Sam Humphries. Art by Mike Mayhew.
Guardians of the Galaxy #25 (Part 7)
Written by Brian Michael Bendis. Art by Valerio Schiti.
Nova #28 (Part 8)
Written by Gerry Duggan. Art by David Baldeon.
Legendary Star-Lord #10 (Part 9)
Written by Sam Humphries. Art by Paco Medina.
April 2015
Cyclops #12 (Part 10)
Written by John Layman. Art by Javier Garron.
Captain Marvel #14 (Part 11)
Written by Kelly Sue DeConnick. Art by David Lopez.
Legendary Star-Lord #11 (Part 12)
Written by Sam Humphries. Art by Paco Medina.
Guardians of the Galaxy & X-Men: The Black Vortex Omega #1 (Part 13)
Written by Sam Humphries. Art by Ed McGuiness.
Will You Be Reading Guardians of the Galaxy & X-Men: The Black Vortex?
Will you be reading Guardians of the Galaxy & X-Men: The Black Vortex? Let us know in the comments below or via our Facebook or Twitter.
This site is invaluable!
Thanks! I’m glad you’re liking it 😀
Hey just found your reading order on the black vortex and it’s great. But as for the leading chapters, Legendary Star Lord #8 is also included.
Thanks so much for this.
This was by far the best reading order one on the internet
I just started reading the black vortex. I own almost all of your list except four of them which I’m going to try and buy soon. Thanks for the reading order it was very helpful. I also used your reading list for the full Axis series and Original Sin which I own. Thanks man and keep up the good work it helps us all out
Thanks Jordan! I’m glad you are finding these lists helpful. Enjoy the Black Vortex!
Thanks for this list! I need to fill some holes in the story that were published in series I don’t read regularly, so this is great help.
No worries, Christian. I hope you’ve been enjoying The Black Vortex!
Hell yeah I’ll be reading them!
Awesome to hear!
I’m a guardians of the galaxy nut, I love all of that cosmic adventure stuff. This is an excellent reading list you put together as sometimes it can be confusing with all the tie-ins , this list makes it easy to keep track, I’m currently reading the legendary star-lord, guardians of the galaxyand gotg team up and Black vortex, I haven’t been collecting comic books that long and as I was reading the legendary star-lord I realize I was missing part of the story, so thanks a lot for putting together this list.
Just looked through the release calendar, it looks like part 11 will be Captain Marvel #14 not #15 like you have listed.
Thanks Adam! I will update this now 🙂
Thanks heaps, this helps lots!